I am just beginning this long journey and I see my PCP for the 1st time on Wednesday to start my 6 mth supervised diet. My fear is that he will not want me to do it and refuse to go along with signing off on my weight loss attempts and my clearance letter. I'm guessing he's going to try telling me that in my 6 month supervised diet that if I try I will be able to lose a lot and shouldn't have the surgery. Anyone dealt with anything like this before?

I guess I 'm thinking my doctor will say that b/c that is what my husband keeps saying!

My OB/GYN was very supportive, so I started looking into WLS almost 2 years ago. When I finally got serious about it last January and talked to my PCP, she was concerned, but she hadn't had any patients who had done this yet. She was happy to hear that I was going through an excellent medical center and we discussed how, with my weight and family history, I would likely be extending my life (and its quality) by many years. She has seen how I have struggled with my weight.

The fact is that this is a rather radical approach to weight loss and it is not without risks. I liken it to sacrificing 3/4 of your troops to win the war; I think military folks might call that "acceptable loss". I needed to get it under control while I was still healthy and young enough to do so. At nearly 3 months out, I'm now off both the blood pressure medications that I'd been taking and am not likely to develop the diabetes that killed my grandmother and makes two of my aunts so terribly ill. If you go into this meeting with your PCP able to discuss the pros and cons as objectively as possible and as measured against your specific health concerns, I can't see your PCP not being open to the concept. In any case, they hav 6 months to prove themself right if you're able to lose weight effectively. I had a 3 month requirement and only lost 12 lbs.

My Pcp was also very supportive about my other medical problems. When I began talking to him about getting Wls he seemed concerned. However,He commented that he never had a patient who had Wls. He went as far as to sign the referral for me and so forth. But not without comments too.

Needless to say I made an appointment with a recommended physician who is also weight loss management physician. She connected with the hospital that i will be having the surgery with. She is familiar with the program and work within the program. I'm thinking she would be better for me as far follow me up for the sleeve surgery. This a long journey and I'm not afraid to pick the best team that also the most supportive. So, best of luck to you.

My PCP was very supportive! She asked me right away if I wanted her to do a referral. I have high blood pressure, high chloesterol, sleep apnea, shortness of breath. I also did 10 months of medically supervised (phentermine) to no avail (not with my pcp). At the time I went to the weight loss doctor, I did not know that it was a requirement for wls surgery but as things have failed it looks as if I was doing all the right things but they were not working. I thought I wanted a lap band but after attending the first survey, I knew I wanted a sleeve. I jumped on the final things, see a nut, psychologist and got my approval for surgery yesterday.

If your PCP is not supportive then find someone that is. It is important that they document your conversations and progress as the notes have to be sent to the insurance company. If they don't document the counseling it will waste your time. You might also check with your insurance company and see if they will accept weight watchers documentation for 6 months. Your surgeons office might also have a program that will take care of all of this for you.

The pcp I started out w wasn't w the whole weightloss thing I seen him for three months before I found out but he w make remarks to finally I got me a new doc don't give up if he won't help move on if u have a coordinator ask her do she or he has a recommended doc u can use one they deal w a lot that's what I did and my pcp turned out to be great very support and he holds me accountable on my supervised diet